The EU Wants to Wean Itself Off U.S. and Chinese Tech

The EU has a 404 error: Domestic AI industry leaders and homegrown data centers not found.

To troubleshoot, EU officials have internally floated the idea of creating a SoftBank-esque, $111-billion "European Future Fund." And in the coming months, France and Germany plan to propose public investment in data centers to cut dependence on foreign tech companies and spur private sector investment in AI.

But with more tech comes more regulation

Margrethe Vestager, perhaps the world's top tech enforcer, has slapped Big Fines on Big Tech for privacy mishaps, tax avoidance, and anticompetitive no-nos. Yesterday, the EU gave Vestager a second term and annointed her digital czar. She'll steer the bloc's course on AI, data governance, the cybers, and more.

Zoom out: Most sentences you see with "EU" and "tech" also contain "de facto regulator," "fine," or "GDPR." That won't change, but the Europeans want to add "self-reliant tech superpower" to the mix.